Business

Apple Stock Hits $700 for First Time Ever

The company's stock passed $700 a share in after hours trading for the first time in its history. Apple's stock had been teasing the $700 mark in recent days, on the strength of iPhone sales estimates following the company's iPhone 5 announcement last week. The stock opened Monday at $699.33 and dipped down for much of the day before closing at $699.78.

Some analysts have upped their price targets for the company based on the news that Apple will launch the latest iPhone in dozens of countries before the end of this month, helping boost sales for the September quarter.

Apple revealed in a press release Monday that two million iPhone 5's were pre-ordered in the first 24 hours it was available, meaning the new iPhone is selling at twice the pace of the iPhone 4s. The general consensus among analysts is that Apple will sell more than 50 million iPhone 5's in the next fiscal quarter.

There are only a handful of other companies whose stock has traded above $700 a share, including Priceline, Berkshire Hathaway and NVR Inc. Google, one of Apple's chief competitors in the mobile space, also recently passed the $700 mark for the first time in five years.

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